Just a few years ago the Model 3 powered Virtua Fighter 3 was the most graphically impressive arcade game ever released in America. Even now, despite it's age, nothing can touch it-in the arcades at least. I remember seeing it for the first time and thinking a home version would never be fully possible. And forget it, when Sega considered making a Saturn version I was on the verge of panic. Virtua Fighter 2 was barely possible on Saturn, so how did Sega plan to cram this graphic feast onto their under powered 32-bit console?

Thankfully the amply powerful Dreamcast was announced we have the chance to try the 3rd installment of the classic 3D fighter that started it all. Keep this is mind: Virtua Fighter paved the way for other acclaimed franchies, respectively Tekken and Soul Calibur. So how does the home version stack up against the arcade monolith? Surprisingly well when you consider the history of the game. At the time, AM2 (the original team pioneers who developed the engine) were busy with Shen Mue and other Naomi properties, so Sega farmed out development to a little known team named Genki. While I am not familiar with their past credentials aside from a few popular PSX games known to Japanese gamers. While I personally will testify AM2 to be godly in their endeavors, the Genki developers have made an impression on me, one which will denotes that I'll be keeping an eye out for their future projects.

On incomplete development hardware, and with a measly six months of development time, Genki managed to produce the most accurate rendition of a Virtua Fighter game ever to grace a home system. This is no small feat. It takes time to get to know new hardware and the ins and outs of a chipset. So the fact they managed to put together an even passable product is no small potatoes.

Only if you were to see the arcade and home versions running side by side would the differences become prominently visible. Some of the models are comprised of fewer polygons. Akira is arcade pixel perfect, and maybe even better looking because DC runs the game at a higher resolution, with tighter textures. But then you have characters like Pai who has big chunks missing from her shoulders. Or Shun who has a whole segment missing from his hip. Thankfully these flaws are only really noticeable during the victory stances and such. When the actual matches are taking place the game still manages to impress, even in the post Soul Calibur era. Animation is smooth enough to be realistic. Clothing isn't as fluid as the arcade. Jacky's jacket flapping has been scaled back, as was Aoi's kimono sleeves. Faces were kept intact; eyes still track opponents and the lip syncing is commendable. Also, the faces are composed of true polygons, and not just texture maps like in Soul Calibur. The skin is isn't anywhere near as seamless as it should be-especially when compared to the likes of Ready 2 Rumble-but still, the game holds it's own nicely compared to the Model 3 rev.

Occasionally, mostly during thows, you'll also notice some z-buffering issues, and parts of clothing may merge into another body part. But none of this has anything to do with DC's technical abilities, and is mostly attributable to the game being rushed through development. The backgrounds are strange. The DC Virtua Fighter 3tb is actually based on a slightly updated version of the game that was never released in America (hence the "tb" which stands for Team Battle). This game had modified backgrounds that look worse than those in the original game. I know this may be an issue of personal taste, but the old backgrounds can be accessed in the versus mode, so take a look for a yourself. I personally think the original backgrounds have richer hues and greater clarity; and those backgrounds is where VF3 really shines. Unlike Soul Calibur and basically every other fighter, VF3 has fully interactive 3D arenas. You can climb to higher ground and use the height advantage to better your opponent, or body check someone against a wall. The slopes, inclines and barriers add a whole new dimension to tactics that other games have yet to pioneer. Some of the lighting effects on the stages aren't as good as the arcade, but in other cases they're actually better. Go figure.

The physics are also a point of interest. The characters all have a weighted feel the corresponds with their onscreen persona. Jeffery can slam the frail Aoi with no problem, but when it comes to Taka it'll take him longer to heave the bulk. You'll see the extra effort in his actual movements. A wild roundhouse will slam against forearms causing both combatants to shift their positions, just like in real life. It's the physics that have earned VF3 the title of most realistic fighting game. Strangely, the audio is not as good as the arcade. Yes, it's defined and clear, and definitely the best out of the series' home conversions. But consider that the arcade version used the Saturn's archaic sound hardware. DC's super advanced Yamaha chip should easily be able to out-shine such older audio technology. I can only guess that it was time constraints, once again, that limited Genki's ability to create a 100% conversion. It's clearly possible. Naomi and Dreamcast are unquestionably more powerful than Model 3.

In all, the game has a few blemishes; not much in the way extras. In addition, the characters don't have individual endings, just a universal ending along with a very cool history depicted in full motion video. The training mode blows; it lacks a move list so buying a strategy guide is a must if you want to know each and every move, and there is a lot of them. Yeah, there's that "tb" mode, but who cares. The rock solid gameplay is what carries this title, so forget the concept of bells of whistles. I know Soul Calibur came out first and stole a great deal of the Virtua Fighter 3's thunder. Furthermore, VF3 has never been the most appreciated game this side of the pond, but I can't say it enough: give this game a second look. There's nothing wrong with this game. It looks great, plays like a dream, and has the best sense of hand-to-hand combat to be captured in a videogame, period. It still possesses concepts yet to be explored by VF's biggest competitor, Tekken (though I will say that Tecmo's DOA2 is truly becoming the biggest innovation to hit the genre sense the original VF). I can only recommend giving the game a second look, and I don't mean a cursory glance either. Buy it, borrow it, rent it, and play it for a week non-stop. If the glory of this game doesn't majestically appear to you by then, than you're just a lost cause.

P.S. For all the help you'll ever need with this daunting and highly complex fighter try visiting www.virtuafighter.com. Now these guys are hardcore. They know things I don't even think AM2 is aware of.

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